Originally Posted by
Meester proach
Sounds good, but these companies don’t seem keen on commuters - every train driver job seems to be “ must live 45 mins max “ from base .
It's due to something called the "fatigue index". Drivers who have a long commute before and after their shift are more likely to be fatigued and are considered to be at greater risk of an operational incident. Some companies will allow potential trainees to relocate, though quite a few won't since they took people on who had moved and those people moved to a qualified driver role in their original area after qualifying. The greatest amount of recruitment is always usually in and around London, though Cross Country and Avanti have a lot of retirements coming up, TPE are short and GWR expanded services by quite a lot over the past couple of years.
It's pretty much a one-way career move and it may well appeal to any pilot who takes a pessimistic view of the future of the pilot role.